Most boom lifts or other similar vehicles use controls that operate the various components of the lift individually. In these systems, simple Cartesian operations such as lifting the operator platform vertically or horizontally can involve multiple control operations such as extending the lower telescoping boom assemblies, while retracting the upper telescoping boom assemblies, which also changes the angles of said upper and lower boom assemblies. Simple Cartesian operations present a surprisingly complex array of challenges for even skilled and experienced operators to perform with standard control systems.
To overcome this problem the industry has developed Cartesian control systems to provide easy, accurate, and reliable changes in the operator platform's Cartesian location. In such control systems, if the operator wants to move the operator platform up, down, left, or right, all that is needed is a simple button press and the control system calculates and coordinates the proper control actions of the various telescoping assemblies and angles. However, these current systems require the installation and calibration of expensive sensors to measure the overall and current length of the telescoping boom assemblies, sensors to measure the rate of speed of their extension or retraction, sensors to detect the amount of hydraulic pressure to the assemblies' control systems, sensors to monitor the angles of the current assemblies, and other similar sensors. The addition of such sensors and their maintenance and calibration adds significantly to the cost of boom lift and other similar vehicles presenting an obstacle to their adoption. Moreover, because of the need for recurring calibration of such sensors, and the distinct possibility of errors occurring in the calibration process, the reliability of commonly used sensors is questionable.
Many other problems, obstacles, limitations and challenges of the prior art will be evident to those skilled in the art, particularly in light of the prior art.